Crews from across county come to cover Okla. tornadoes

MOORE, Okla. – From Wichita, Kansas, to Moore, Oklahoma, television crews are converging on the destruction that enveloped the metro area this week.

Crews from our Wichita, Kansas, sister station KSNW-TV came to Moore to find Wichita natives in the Sooner State.

“Bill Warren is from Wichita and he has strong ties to Moore and Oklahoma City,” Craig Andres from KSNW-TV. “Our crews came to Moore after learning Bill Warren’s movie house was hit by the tornado. In fact, Warren says he was watching the destruction on his closed circuit TV link from Wichita when it hit.”

The Warren Theatres did take a hit but many rode out the storm inside and escaped with their lives.

“We also came to try to find loved ones who were still missing from Wichita,” Andres said. “But it’s the local residents of Moore who moved us most while we were here to gather our news stories for our newscasts.”

“Susan Benn walked by our news truck with tears in her eyes Tuesday afternoon,” Andres said. “She slogged through the muck and debris to see what was left of her house and it was not much.”

“Well, it wasn’t pretty,” Benn said. “But we are alive and our pets made it out, too.”

“We were watching the news and knew it was coming,” she said. “We got to an inside hallway and pulled the blanket over our heads.”

Benn said it was at that moment the rest of her house swirled away in one horrendous motion.

“Yes, it did sound like a train,” Benn said. “Classic, horrible sound.”

The KSN crews said they found the people of Moore and Oklahoma City to have a resilient spirit.

“Well, we get our share of violent, deadly tornadoes in and around Wichita and it’s always heartwarming to see the human spirit and the will to move forward,” Andres said. “We are certainly finding that here in Oklahoma. There’s just something about the Midwest spirit; It can move you to tears to see people picking each other up and lending a helping hand.”